The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), established in 2019 and co-founded by Novak Djokovic, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, March 18, against the ATP, WTA, and International Tennis Federation (ITF) tours along with the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
The 163-page lawsuit lists many complaints pertaining to compensation, scheduling, workplace conditions, and due process. The PTPA says the lawsuit was filed after years of discussions on these issues with the appropriate parties were not fruitful. Top players are said to be behind the lawsuit. Djokovic is not listed individually, but Nick Kyrgios, Reilly Opelka, Tennys Sandgren, Sorana Cirstea, and Nicole Melichar-Martinez are.
Tennis fans wonder what could happen as a result of this lawsuit. We are definitely in uncharted territory, but a few possible options are listed below.
What the Professional Tennis Players Association's lawsuit means for tennis
A Tennis Players' Union
Team-oriented professional sports have players' unions who elect player representatives to negotiate on their behalf. The PTPA is not a union, but tennis players may consider unionizing in an organized manner if the lawsuit is unproductive.
Work Stoppage
Player lockouts and strikes happened in football, baseball, basketball, and hockey. These were drastic measures that happened as a result of negotiations between the players' unions and team owners not progressing. Everyone loses in the short term in a lockout or strike situation, but the collective voice of the players forces discussions and changes.
Separate Tours
Billie Jean King made it her personal crusade to create the WTA Tour over 50 years ago. Could players opt out of the current situation and create their own tours and events? Many have corporate sponsorships that could be utilized for this extreme scenario.
In 2022, professional golf split itself between the PGA and the LIV Tours. This was a painful exercise for players and fans, and the ramifications are still being felt.
Individual sports have a more difficult time initiating change than team sports. Players are at different ages and stages of their careers so their priorities differ. Professional tennis has arguably been at a crossroads for years, and this lawsuit may create the necessary changes to make it better for players and fans.